As wireless data transmission continues to grow in popularity and become more widespread, the number of users is ever increasing. The frequency ranges at which data may be transmitted is currently fixed by regulatory agencies. Thus, the airwaves are becoming more congested due to great increases in the popularity of mobile computing devices and phones and the related data transmission. Alternatively, certain users may have a particular frequency reserved for data communication for its customers and/or its own use, but the number of users and the amount of data transferred over this frequency is likewise increasing.
Thus, in order to supply the demand for increases in the number of users of a wireless data network and the amount of data transmission within the limited bandwidths provided by regulatory agencies, the industry must develop hardware and methods that are able to receive separate signals in the same frequency range and separate the signals so that successful radio frequency (“RF”) data transfer may be experienced. This application has proved very difficult because the fact that each data signal is transmitted at the same frequency and this introduces new challenges in filtering and signal separation that are not present due to signal interference experienced with data signals sent over different frequencies. If co-channel interference cannot be mitigated, then neither data signal may be decoded and used by the intended recipient. Thus, a reliable method of separating co-channel interference is desired or else the number of users on a given network may not expand to match demand, and network capacity, performance and/or other regulatory based limitations on the growth of the mobile data transfer and computing markets may result.
In these situations, when at least two users in separate physical locations each transmit a data signal over the same frequency to one central data receiving station, co-channel interference is introduced into the system which must be mitigated in order to use the data being transmitted in each transmitted signal. In addition, the receiver station and signal receivers must also mitigate and address inter-symbol and multi-path interference that are typical and present in most single channel wireless RF data transmission. Accordingly, in situations where multiple users transmit digital data signals to a single receiving station, then co-channel, inter-symbol, and multi-path interference must be addressed and successfully mitigated in order for the receiving users to decode and use transmitted data signals.
Thus, there is a substantial need in the art for a combined signal processing device and method that can separate the transmitted signals and eliminate co-channel, inter-symbol, and multipath interference multipath when at least two signals are transmitted to a single receiver station. There is a further need in the art for such a combined signal processing device and method that can separate the transmitted signals and eliminate co-channel, inter-symbol, and multipath interference that also strengthens the received data signals through a diversity gain.